George R.R. Martin: Could ‘Wild Cards’ Be the Next ‘Game of Thrones’?

Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin has a novel series called Wild Cards being adapted by Hulu, and it could be his next big hit.

While speaking to Rolling Stone, the superhero book series came up and Martin shared the status of the project.

He revealed that “they [have] got a good writers’ room — Melinda Snodgrass and Michael Cassutt, those are two of the writers for the books, [they] are in there. A guy named Andrew Miller is the showrunner, and they’ve got a bunch of other people. Everything I hear indicates it’s going well. So we’re excited about that.”

“It’s the equivalent of Marvel or DC, you know, they could make a dozen shows out of that,” Martin added. “So many different characters and so forth.”

During the interview, Martin also spoke about his feelings on Game of Thrones ending, saying, “You know, it’s complex. I’m a little sad, actually.”

“I wish we had a few more seasons. But I understand. Dave and Dan are gonna go on to do other things, and I’m sure some of the actors were signed up for like seven or eight years, and they would like to go on and take other roles. All of that is fair. I’m not angry or anything like that, but there’s a little wistfulness in me,” he continued.

“It’s weird, in Hollywood, this way … I mean I’ve worked on other shows, you know? Twilight Zone in the mid-’80s, and then Beauty and the Beast for three years… And whenever a show ends, and the longer the show lasts the harder it is,” Martin went on to say.

The acclaimed author shared that when you work on a series, “You’re really with a family. You’re with them for a large part of the year, and not only working with them, but you’re often living with them in some distant location where you’re all in one hotel together. You’re seeing them every day, like five days a week, sometimes seven days a week. They’re very intensely involved in your life.”

He then explained his philosophy as it applies to Game of Thrones, saying that she has “a good cast, you know, relationships and friendships develop that are very, very deep.”

“Then it ends, and everybody scatters to the ends of the earth. And a show that’s lasted as long as Game of Thrones, it’s the eighth season but it’s like, what, 10 years they’ve all been together? These young women have grown up together,” he also said, referring specifically to Stark sister actresses Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams. “They’ve become sisters, I think, in more than just the script. And the friendship that they’ve forged, that will endure.”

Game of Thrones airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.